CORONA – The biggest closures to date for the 91 Project in Corona start Friday night as crews make a “main push” toward a milestone. And when stretches reopen Monday morning, motorists will travel a newly constructed portion of the freeway.

“There’s a lot of complexity with the closures and the ending result is the public will see a big difference in their travel patterns on Monday,” said Eliza Perez, spokeswoman for the Riverside County Transportation Commission, the lead agency in the project.

Motorists are advised to steer clear of the 91 freeway between Lincoln Avenue and the I-15 interchange as crews grind away to create two toll lanes – the first in Riverside County – as well as a general purpose lane to ease the jammed commute.

The closures and one opening, dubbed “Main Push,” involve five separate projects:

 Completion of the new eastbound 91 Lincoln Avenue on-ramp and off-ramp, from 9 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Monday.

 Full closure of westbound 91 at Maple Street for the bridge demolition, from 10:30 p.m. Saturday to noon Sunday.

 Closure and demolition of the Main Street undercrossing between ramps, starting at 9 p.m. Sunday. The project will continue for about two months.

 Opening of a new half of the Maple Street bridge, at 4 a.m. Monday.

“We’ve titled it ‘Main Push’ because there’s work going on around Main Street, but we’re mainly pushing the motorists traveling on the inside to traveling to the outside,” Perez said. “And also, they’re working very hard to get this project completed and they’re pushing for that.”

Started in 2014, the 91 Project entails removing a high-occupancy-vehicle lane and creating two tolled express lanes in each direction. The lanes will be free for carpools of three or more passengers and 50 percent off eastbound during the peak hours of 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays.

Single motorists will have the option to take the tolled express lanes past I-15 into Corona.

The project also involves adding one general purpose lane in each direction and improving six interchanges. At its widest portion, by the I-15 interchange, the 91 freeway will span 22 lanes across.

About 280,000 cars travel the corridor daily, and it has consistently been ranked among the top 15 worst commutes in the nation, Perez said.

The weekend closures are necessary to keep the project on track for completion in early 2017, according to the commission.

Drivers are encouraged to use alternative routes such as the I-10 and 60 freeway to travel east and west; or ride Metrolink.

Jessica Kwong covers Santa Ana and transportation for The Orange County Register. A Los Angeles native, Kwong grew up speaking Spanish, Cantonese and English, in that order, and has spent much of her journalism career working in Spanish-language media. She started her career at the San Francisco Chronicle and has also been a staff writer for the San Antonio Express-News, La Opinión, Time Warner Cable Sports and the San Francisco Examiner. Kwong has won awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications, California Newspaper Publishers Association, San Francisco Peninsula Press Club and East Bay Press Club and has been a fellow for The New York Times and Hearst Newspapers. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature in Spanish and English and Mass Communications from the University of California, Berkeley.

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